As they were scheduled to, South Korean technology giants Samsung have become one of the first major companies to reveal a physical version of the fabled ‘smartwatch’, announcing their ‘Galaxy Gear’ device as being capable of making and receiving phone calls, managing emails, and taking photographs, amongst other features.
Having been described as ‘something out of sci-fi’, Samsung yesterday (4 September) unveiled their innovative product at the ‘Samsung Unpacked’ event in Berlin (Germany) ahead of the start of the IFA technology trade show in the city beginning today.
Pranav Mistry, the head of ‘Think Tank Team at Samsung Research America’ was the man to reveal and demonstrate the watch during the event, noting that amongst other features it contains speakers and microphones powerful enough for the user to speak into and hear from instead of doing so from a smartphone.
Mistry said of the achievement from his company: “This is an exciting time for all of us at Samsung. We have created something incredible. You don’t need to get your phone out anymore. Gear takes the entirety of your digital world and places it right where you can see. It is stainless steel but light in weight. The strap is packed with technology of the next decade.”
As with the ‘Galaxy Note 3′, the Samsung Galaxy Gear (or just ‘Samsung Gear’ if you are in South Korea), will be available to buy in over 140 countries as of 25 September, and one of the first of the new-generation smartwatches to hit the market, in spite of many other companies offering similar announcements of their products, though not yet offered physically to consumers.
Unlocked ‘with a swipe’ (as with other ‘smart’ touchscreen devices), the Galaxy Gear will be able to synchronise with other products to provide a connected content experience, whilst functionally the watch comes in six colours and is ‘comfortable’ enough to be ‘worn all day’. And, of course, it can tell you the hours, minutes, and seconds of the day, hopefully the ‘smartwatch’ industry will not go the same way as the smartphone and lose focus from its named function. Used to be that you didn’t need a digital screen or connected features to tell you the time:
But with all these advancements in technology, many consumers will be hoping that the next development in the timekeeper product industry allows them even more ‘input’:
For now, though, perhaps just make do with being able to check your smartphone from your wrist:
Latest TV searches:
Berlin IFA 2013, samsung galaxy gear smartwatch, samsung reveal, samsung smart tvs, samsung smartwatch, talking app for samsung galaxy